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FARE OF THE COUNTRY

FARE OF THE COUNTRY; The Favorite at Churchill Downs: Derby-Pie

By REGINA SCHRAMBLING; REGINA SCHRAMBLING, who writes about food, lives in New York.

Published: April 30, 1989

DERBY WEEK is the one time of year when sin is sanctioned in Kentucky. Betting is not only condoned but actually regarded as a patriotic duty, since so much is riding on the Run for the Roses on the first Saturday in May. Overindulgence also seems socially acceptable in the whirl of energy and excess that marks the week leading up to that over-in-an-instant horse race. Fitness is left to the three-year-olds on the track at Churchill Downs in Louisville. Most everyone else is busy eating and drinking, usually in immoderation.

At the height of Derby fever, two Bluegrass tastes tend to bring out the basest instincts in even the most hidebound Yankee conservatives. Spring is when teetotalers' and wine snobs' fancies turn to bourbon and when even die-hard dieters succumb to sweets, particularly one named for the big event itself. Both mint juleps and Derby-Pie are consumed in less frenzied months, but they will certainly be menu mainstays all through the week of the 115th running of the Derby.

Of the two temptations, Derby-Pie may be the easier to appreciate at first taste. Dozens of imitations can be had throughout Kentucky, but the real thing from Kern's Kitchen is a chocolate-walnut concoction in a buttery crust with a custardy, sugary filling, something like chess or pecan pie. The rich dessert is so prized that its name has been registered with both the state and the Federal governments, and its exact makeup is a secret.

By contrast, mint juleps, especially when mass-mixed at parties or the track, can be something only a bettor could love on first sip. A combination of sugar syrup, crushed mint, cracked ice and bourbon, they may be an acquired taste. The oldest joke in Kentucky, in fact, is some variation on the early 1900's recipe attributed to Henry Watterson, the famed local newspaper editor:

''Pluck the mint gently from its bed, just as the dew of the evening is about to form upon it. Select the choicer sprigs only, but do not rinse them. Prepare the simple syrup and measure out a half-tumbler of whiskey. Pour the whiskey into a well-frosted silver cup, throw the other ingredients away and drink the whiskey.''

Watterson's parody of more poetic formulas dating from the 1800's generally strikes a chord among bourbon connoisseurs who appreciate the subtle nuances of a liquor distilled only in the Bluegrass. Less sophisticated palates, however, tend to find the sweet drink goes down easier than the undiluted hard liquor.

Other Southern states, especially Virginia, have laid claim to the mint julep ever since plantation days, when gentlemen farmers typically started the day with a similar sweet and herbal libation made with rum or regular whisky. But Kentucky takes true pride in the drink because bourbon was first distilled there, in Bourbon County, in 1789. By law, the alcohol today can be made only with a sour mash containing at least 51 percent corn and with the state's distinctive limestone water, and it must be aged in charred white-oak casks. Other states that produce sour mash whiskey have to call their product what it is, anything but bourbon.

Part of the mint julep's appeal is the mug in which tradition dictates that it be served. Only silver will do, of course. As Henry Clay wrote in his recipe in the 1880's, when he was a Kentucky Congressman, part of the pleasure is seeing ''beads of moisture gather on the burnished exterior.'' He also insisted the sugar syrup be made with chilled limestone water to produce ''a silvery mixture as smooth as some Egyptian oil.''

Today, most Derby drinkers rarely balk at a julep in cheap glass or even clear plastic. A souvenir glass from Churchill Downs, in fact, is more prized than any T-shirt, and just as impressive a symbol of survival of the madding crowds on the infield, a scene that encourages most residents to watch the race in the privacy of their own living rooms.

Kentucky expatriates like me who throw their own Derby parties far from the action know that anyone with a little nerve, a few sprigs of fresh mint and a good bottle of bourbon (preferably Maker's Mark) can stir up a pretty fair facsimile of a genuine julep.

RE-CREATING Derby-Pie is a lot trickier, and not only because it has to come out of the kitchen under an alias. As I've learned over the last few years, imitations tend to be heavy and chunky - fairly decadent, but not Derby fare.

The real recipe is known only to selected descendants of Walter and Leudra Kern, who developed it in the 1960's at the Melrose Inn in Prospect, just outside Louisville. According to their grandson, Alan S. Rupp, who now runs the pie kitchen, the two were on their way to Florida in 1954 when they detoured through Louisville to help out his mother shortly before he was born. They wound up taking over the Melrose and working to create a signature dessert with the help of his uncle, George Kern. When they finally succeeded, Mr. Rupp said, ''They pulled the name right out of a hat in the front of the restaurant.''

The hyphen and the trademark were added in the 60's when a restaurateur friend, Ed Hasenour, recommended that the couple protect their masterpiece from pie poachers. Now it is often imitated, but rarely duplicated, and imitations never speak its name. ''I don't mind anyone making a chocolate nut pie if they call it anythng but Derby-Pie,'' Mr. Rupp said. ''They can call it Winner's Circle Pie, or Thoroughbred Pie, or Bluegrass Pie.''

To meet demand for the real thing this time of year, ovens at the company's 2,000-square-foot bakery work overtime, turning out 680 pies a day, compared with around 500 in other months. ''Derby season is an exceptional time of year for all business in the Louisville area.'' Mr. Rupp explained. ''Visitors are coming in, the flowers are blooming, people are out spending money. We do a third of our business in the second quarter.''

Everything but the crust is made at Kern's Kitchen; a local bakery handles the flaky part of the product. Along with Mr. Rupp, the head salesman who has been in the business ''since I was a green kid,'' the total staff comprises an office assistant and a couple of part-time bakers.

All those hundreds of pies baked by the tiny crew are destined for restaurants from Louisville to Lexington, from Cincinnati and Indianapolis to Knoxville, Tenn. Most Kentucky outlets cut them up and sell the pieces for $2.25 to $3. Retail shops sell them whole, especially the 15 stores in the Ehrler's dairy chain around Louisville.

Evidence of the pie's appeal can be found in Kern's client list, which includes most major hotels, the private Jefferson Club and various country clubs. Many of Louisville's oldest restaurants are loyal customers - Hasenour's, Bauer's Since 1870, John E's, Kunz's Fourth & Market - as are a number of newcomers, such as Timothy's, on Broadway, and Liberty Street, at the Galleria mall downtown. Derby-Pie is also served at Gibb's, a barbecue place, and Hoe Kow, a Chinese restaurant. Absence of Derby-Pie on a menu, in fact, is actually touted by some restaurants that want to prove they bake their desserts on the premises.

Over the last five or six years, Mr. Rupp said, the pie has become a staple in all Kentucky state parks. The Star of Louisville and the River Queen Falls City boats on the Ohio River also pack the pie on board. And, as befits a dessert with such a winning name, it's a standard item in the winning rooms at Churchill Downs; this year it may even be served in the infield.

Wherever it turns up, Derby-Pie is nothing to be eaten casually. Ideally, it should be reheated and served warm. As Mr. Rupp explained, ''The flavor really blossoms, the chocolate comes out and the flavor intensifies between the chocolate and the nuts . . . . but I do have friends who eat it right out of the freezer.''

Decadent diners like to top their Derby-Pie with ice cream, but others prefer a little of what makes a mint julep so heady. Mr. Rupp, for one, has adopted his granny's finishing touch: a spoonful of sweetened whipped cream spiked with a shot or so of good bourbon. SIPS AND SWEETS

Dinner with wine, tax and tip will run about $50 a couple. Lunch and dinner are served daily; reservations are crucial during Derby weekend. (A Bristol branch is on the riverfront downtown at the Kentucky Center for the Arts.) The most elegant place to sample a mint julep is the Old Seelbach Bar (Seelbach Hotel, 500 Fourth Avenue; Louisville; 502-585-3200), where the julep is served in a commemorative glass that you can take with you; it costs $3.75. During Derby weekend the bar is open from 2 P.M. to 4 A.M.

Taste of Kentucky, a crammed shop in the Galleria mall in downtown Louisville, sells both $10.99 full-size Kern's Derby-Pies, enough for eight or more, and $2.29 single-serving tarts.

A full line of julep cups made by Louisville Stoneware is also available for $9.99 apiece, along with a syrup and a powdered mix for mint juleps. Pies and other items can be ordered out of state; the pies last a week without refrigeration (six months in the freezer) and are shipped by United Parcel Service for a handling charge of about $3. To order, call 502-589-3794.

For one last taste of Kentucky, stop by the Marriott outlet at the airport, Standiford Field. The menu features Bluegrass specialties and Derby-Pie to go. - R. S.